Rolls-Royce SMR plans £15m manufacturing facility in Sheffield

Rolls-Royce SMR is setting up a multi-million-pound facility in Sheffield, UK, to manufacture and test prototype modules for its small modular reactors (SMRs).

The Rolls-Royce SMR Module Development Facility will be housed within the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre’s existing Factory 2050 facilities.

The facility will produce working prototypes of the individual modules that will be assembled into Rolls-Royce SMR power plants.

This first phase of the development, worth £2.7 million ($3.4 million), is part of a wider scope of work valued at £15+ million ($19+ million).

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Victoria Scott, Rolls-Royce SMR’s chief manufacturing engineer, said: “Our investment in setting up this facility and building prototype modules is another significant milestone for our business.

“Our factories will produce hundreds of prefabricated and pre-tested modules ready for assembly on site. This facility will allow us to refine our production, testing and digital approach to manufacturing - helping de-risk our programme and ensure we increase our delivery certainty.”

Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, said: “This multi-million-pound SMR manufacturing facility will be fantastic for Sheffield – making the Steel City once again the home to world-leading industry.”

For Rolls-Royce SMR this announcement is another important step towards deploying a fleet of ‘factory-built’ nuclear power plants in the UK and globally.

Each of the factory-built nuclear power stations will provide enough low-carbon electricity to power a million homes for more than 60 years.